Railway truck



Oct- 13, 1925- w. F. ROCKWELL RAILWAY TRUCK Filed Dec. 5. 3'Sheets-Shee; 1

INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY.

Oct- 13, 1925- 1,557,336 w. F. ROCKWELL RAILWAY TRUCK Filed Dec. 3. 1 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 l IIIHIIII lllllllllll INVEN TOR.

TTORNEY:

w. F. ROCKWELL RAILWAY TRUCK Filed Dec, 5. 1923 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 WE, & k

ATTORNEY.

Patented Oct. 13, 1925.

UNITED STATES WILLARD F. ROCKWELL,

OF OSHKOSH, WISCONSIN.

RAILWAY TRUCK.

Application filed December 3, 1923. Serial No. 878,232.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLARD F. Room WELL, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Oshkosh, in the county of Winnebago and State of Wisconsin, have invented new and useful Improvements in Railway Trucks, of which the following is a description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which are a part of this specification.

This invention relates to railway trucks, and has for one of its objects to provide a standard truck of the usual and ordinary railway design which is provided with means whereby it may be efiiciently driven from an external source of power not carried by the truck itself.

A further object of the invention is to provide a standard railway truck having a double reduction gearing, which is susceptible of transmitting power to the wheel axle in either direction or which may be entirely disconnected to permit the vehicle to drift or to be towed.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a truck in which the double reduction gearing is mounted by means of a three point suspension whereby it may readily accommodate itself to any unevenness in the track, which may cause the driven axle to become inclined from the horizontal.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a truck construction of the class described in which power from the main driving shaft is transmitted to the double reduction gearing by means of a universal joint which is located substantially directly below the pivot of the truck, whereby the angularity of the universal joint, when the vehicle is rounding the curves, is reduced to a minimum.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a truck construction of the class described which will be relatively simple, comparatively inexpensive to manufacture and very eficient in use.

With the above and other objects in view, which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention consists in the novel details of construction and combinations and arrangements of parts, more fully hereinafter described and particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawings in which like reference characters designate like parts in all the views;

Figure 1 is a side elevational view, partly broken away, of a railway truck constructed in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view, partly in horizontal section and upon a largerscale, of the driving gearing, shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view ofv the said gearing taken approximately on the plaine indicated by the line 3-3 of Fig. 4; an

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view, partly in elevation, taken approximately on the plane indicated by the line 44 of Fig. 2.

Referring more particularly to the said drawings, the numeral 5 indicates the side members of a railway truck frame of any standard construction, which are provided with the usual journal boxes 6, which receive the journals of the axles 7, carrying the usual wheels 8, in the well known manner. The said frame also includes the usual bolster 9, provided with the pivot or king pin 10 and resiliently mounted on suitable springs 11 for vertical movement in suitable guideways 12 in which the frame members 5 are provided.

The gearing employed for the transmission of power from the source to the axle 7 may be similar to that commonly employed in the transmission of power to the axles of motor trucks, busses, and the like, and is here shown as mounted in a suitable housing or casing 15, through which one of the axles 7 passes, as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

The said casing or housing 15 may be provided with a horizontal longitudinal extension 16, in which is journalled on the ad justably mounted ball or other anti-friction bearings, 17 and 18, a stub shaft 19. The protruding end 20 of the said shaft 19 is preferably tapered to receive one member of an universal joint or connection 21, see Fig. 1, while the other end of the said stub shaft 19 has rigidly mounted thereon a bevel pinion 22, see Figs. 2 and 4. Power may be transmitted to the shaft 19 from any suitable source, not shown, mounted externally of the truck by means of a power shaft 23, which carries the companion member, not shown, of the universal joint 21.

Meshing with the pinion 22 is a pair of opposed bevel gears, 24 and 25, which are rotatably mounted by means of the roller or other anti-friction bearings 26, upon a transverse jack shaft 27. The said shaft 27 may be fixed within the housing 15 and it also carries intermediate the gears 24 and 25, a spur pinion 28, which is both rotatably and slidably mounted upon the said shaft.

The bevel gears 24 and 25 are provided with internal spur gear teeth 30 and 31 respectively, which are arranged in co-operative relation to the teeth of the pinion 28, whereby the said teeth 30 and 31 may be alternatel engaged by the ends of the said teeth of the pinion 28, as will appear more fully below.

The said pinion 28 is provided at a point intermediate its ends with a circumferential groove 32, extending at least to the bottoms of the teeth of the said pinion, and preferably a slight distance below the same, as is clearly shown in Figs. 2 and 3. The said groove isentered by a oke or bifurcated member 33, which is earned by a transversely extending rod or shaft 34, which is slidabl mounted in the casing or housing 15, an the said shaft and yoke constitute a shifting mechanism by means of which the pinion 28 may be shifted longitudinally of the shaft 27 to cause its teeth to engage either the internal teeth 30' of the gear 24 or the internal teeth 31 of the gear 25. The parts are so designed and constructed that the pinion 28 may also be positioned out of engagement with either of the gear teeth 30 and 31, so that a neutral point may be had at which no power will be transmitted from the said gears 24 and 25 to the pinion.

Constantly meshing with the teeth of the pinion 28 is a spur gear 35, of suitable diameter, to provide the gear reduction which ma be desired, which gear 35 is rigidly carrie by the axle 7 of the truck. It thus results that when the pinion 28 is rotated by reason of its engagement with the internal teeth of either of the gears 24 or 25, that power will be transmitted therefrom to the gear 35 and thence to the axle 7 and to the car wheels 8, whereby the vehicle may be moved over the track in the usual and well known manner.

As is well known in railway practice, unevenness in the roadbed or track often causes an inclination of the axles 7 out of the horizontal, and in order to permit of such inclination in the present instance, the. gear casing 15, one end of which is supported at two points, as upon the roller bearings 37, has its other end suitably supported in a yoke or bearing 40, suitably positioned and secured to the truck frame. The casing or housing 15 is thus permitted to oscillate about the longitudinal axis, and either of the wheels 8 carried by the axle 7 assume a plane above the other wheel, due

to an unevenness in the track, and strains upon the casing and gearing are thus eliminated.

As above stated, the gearing or gear casing is so designed and constructed and the yoke or hearing 40 is so located that the universal joint 21 which is carried by the stub shaft 19 is positioned substantially directly below the pivot pin 10 of the truck, so that when there is any relative movement between the truck and the car body, as in rounding a curve, the said universal joint will be subjected to only a minimum amount of angularity. This permits of efiicient transmission of power from the source of power mounted externally of the truck through the power shaft 23, as will be readily understood.

In order to control the position of the pinion 28 on the shaft 27 and to thereby control the transmission of power from the stub shaft 19 and pinion 22 to the gear 35 and axle 7, and to also control the direction of such a transmission, any suitable mechanism for controlling the shifting yoke 33 may be employed. This controlling mechanism may be manual, pneumatic, or electromagnetic, as desired, but is here shown as being of the pneumatic type. A pair of cylinders 45 is provided, which cylinders may be formed as an integral part of the casing or housing 15. These cylinders are entered by the ends of the shifting rod or shaft 34, which ends carry suitable pistons 46 working within the said cylinders. Air or other fluid pressure may be admitted to the said cylinders behind the said pistons through suitable pipes or connections '47, and the said fluid pressure may be controlled in any desired manner, by suitable valves or other means not shown. The parts may be maintained with the pinion 28 in neutral position by means of a suitable detent, such, for example, as the spring-pressed ball 48, which is adapted to engage the notch or recess 49, provided in the rod or shaft 34, see Fig. 3.

In operation power is transmitted from the source not shown, through the drivin shaft 23 to the universal joint 21 ant through it to the stub shaft 19 and pinion 22, carried thereby. Bevel gears 24 and 25 meshing with the said pinion upon opposite sides thereof are thus constantly driven in opposite directions and power from either may be transmitted at will to the pinion 28 by shifting the latter into engagement with the appropriate teeth 30 or 31 of the said gears 24 and 25. Power from the pinion 28 will then be transmitted to the gear 35 and from it to the axle 7 and car Wheels 8, whereby the truck together with the vehicle may be moved over the track in the well known manner and in the desired direction. When it is desired to bring the vehicle to a stop, it is not essential that the power be stopped, since the transmission may be interrupted by moving the pinion 28 to its neutral position with its teeth out of engagement with both the ring gears 30 and 31, as will be readily understood.

While one form of the invention has been illustrated and described, it is obvious that those skilled in the art may vary the details of construction as well as the arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit of the invention and therefore it is not wished to be limited to the above disclosure except as may be required by the accompanying claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a car truck, a frame provided with a vertical pivot pin; an axle journalled in said frame; a gear casing transversely journalled on said axle and longitudinally journalled in said frame; gearing including a clutch within said casing for driving said axle; and an universal oint for transmitting power to said gearing, located below and substantially in alinement with said pivot pin.

2. In a car truck, a frame provided with a vertical pivot pin; an axle journalled in said frame; a gear casing transversely jour nalled on said axle and longitudinally journalled in said frame; gearing including a clutch within said casing for driving said axle; means for shifting said clutch to control the transmission of power to said axle; and an universal joint for transmitting power to said gearing, located below and substantially in alinement with said pivot pin.

3. In a car trucljt, a frame provided with a vertical pivot pm; an axle journalled 1n said frame; a gear casing transversely journalled at two points on said axle, and longitudinally journalled at a single point in said frame; reversible reduction gearing including a clutch, within said casing for driving said axle; power means for shifting said clutch to control the transmission of power to said axle and the direction of rotation thereof; and an universal joint for transmitting power to said gearing, located below and substantially in alinement with said pivot pin.

4. In a car truck, a frame, an axle journaled in said frame, a gear casing transversely journaled on said axle and longitudinally journaled in said frame, and gearing including a clutch, within said casing for driving said axle.

5. In a car truck, a frame, an axle journaled in said frame, a gear casing transversely journaled on said axle and longitudinally journaled in said frame, gearing including a clutch, within said casing for drivin said axle, and means for shifting said 0 utch to control the transmission of power to said axle.

In testimony whereof, I affix my signature.

WILLARD F. ROCKWELL. 

